Brighton Backgammon Premier League

Brighton Backgammon Premier League

The BBPL was started in March 2019 in association with 8 Cube Brighton and invited players from the surrounding areas to join in the new league including those from other clubs who wanted to play more.

In July we commenced with 32 players who were randomly drawn into 4 groups of 8 to play one match against all players in the group. In the first month a few players dropped out due to the commitment with a couple of new players stepping in. The group stage was scheduled for 3 months to play 7 matches by the end of September and had over a 97% completion rate.

On completion of the group stages the winners of each group joined Division 1, second places into Division 2 and so on. With a few players having dropped out over this stage we managed to fill 8 divisions of 4 players who started the league proper for season 2 commencing 1st October 2019 through to 25th December 2019.

Brighton Backgammon Premier League is run in conjunction with the UKBGF and all matches are included in the ratings system.

Venue:

The Temple Bar, 121 Western Road, Brighton, BN3 1DB

Meeting dates:

Fortnightly on a Monday evening from 7pm or earlier by arrangement.

About the League.

The league format is based on the well established London league and will be referenced for any committee decisions.

Divisions will be made up of 4 players in each.

Each season will last for 13 weeks commencing on the 1st of the month and ending on the 25th of the month (dates 1st July – 25th September, 1st October – 25th December, 1st January – 25th March, 1st April – 25th June).

Only matches played and reported by the end date of each season will be counted in points total

The deadline will not be altered for any reason.

Each player will arrange to play two 11 point matches against all other players in their division. (6 matches)

All matches are to be played using shakers (and precision dice where available). Baffle box may be used by one or both players if desired.

Clock use will be preference in divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4 until further notice, if one player desires. Time settings (22 mins + 12 second delay). In lower divisions Clock is optional by mutual agreement only. If a players clock time runs out, the match will be stopped, the win awarded to the player with time left and the score before applies as final result.

Legal moves only.

The UKBGF rules of play and conduct must be adhered too.

The scoring for/against for each match must be reported. (winning score truncated to 11 points)

Two points will be awarded for a match win; 1 point will be awarded for a match loss.

League tables will be updated as soon as possible and at least once a fortnight.

There will be one Promotion spot from each of the lower divisions with one relegation spot.

The winner of each division will receive £25, runner up will receive £10 from entry fees

Annual Championship

As it is impossible to please everyone all the time we are going to have a second format running concurrently to offer players the chance to play a wider variety of people over a period of 1 year (4 seasons) ending 25th December 2020.

This will be a single group open to anyone involved in the main league divisions plus those that just want to play as many players as possible.

It is not a requirement to be in both formats however this additional format will only be for those that join it before the end of September 2019.

There will be an additional entry of £10 for the year into a prize pool which will be split 50%, 25%, 15% and 10% to the top 4 places. Any draws will be sorted by tie break rules below.

A trophy maybe awarded.

Matches will all be 9 points. 2 points for winning, 1 point for loser, match scores recorded for/against.

There will be no penalties for not arranging/playing matches other than no points being awarded to either player.

Clock use will be preference for all matches

The Championship will be limited to 24 players for the first season until 30th September 2020 giving 23 extra fixtures to play during the year.

The Championship maybe split for the year 2020 – 2021 if more players are interested with a maximum of 24 players in the main and a smaller flight of Intermediate and beginners depending on numbers

It is both players responsibility to arrange matches; this will be via group chat or email.

Seasonal division group chats will be monitored by administrator where applicable. If both players can’t work out a suitable date over a three month period they may both be deducted 1 point. If administrators find that one player has made every effort to arrange a suitable date / venue then that player maybe awarded 1 point and the other deducted 1 point. Only mitigating circumstances will be accepted.

Players can arrange matches at venues and times of their choice; both matches will be deemed home fixtures, the default venue / time being the arranged fortnightly club nights.

No shows – If a player does not turn up for an arranged match on time or without 3 hours notice, the stood up player should provide evidence of arrangements, Match will be rearranged – Two strikes and out!

It is not permissible to play matches online, unless administrators are convinced that circumstances have meant that there was no other option to play during the three month season.

All match results must be reported by one or both players immediately in person, text or email to administrator in charge of results.

Whilst playing matches and to maintain the integrity of the competition, onlookers are respectfully asked not to make any comment on running matches until after completion, unless prior arrangement as referee.

Weaker players may make prior request that any onlookers intervene to pick up unnoticed illegal plays. This request may be indicated in some manner.

Division Tie-breaks.

If two or more players are equal on league points on completion of divisional matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order):

Higher number of head to head fixtures won in the divisional matches or total aggregate match score

The final result of the most recent head-to-head match played by the two players in question.

Lastly current higher UKBGF ranking

How to join

The league is by invitation from existing member or application; the committee have total discretion on all invites and applications.

Contact can be via Facebook, Messenger or telephone Tim 07976264260

All new members from 1st October 2019 will have a one off lifetime joining fee of £10 to pay in addition to season entry fee (subject to change)

The entry subscription per season will be £10 until further notice. All player subscriptions are to be paid no later than 28th of the month prior to new season commencing. Payment is to be made to committee treasurer. Pre-payments will be accepted.

No Payment – No Entry

Any newcomers to the league will join at the start of a season in the lowest division. There may be 3 or more players in lowest division and prizes will be adjusted accordingly.

In lowest division the number of relegated players will depend on new entries to the league the following season. All divisions will be 4 players where possible. There will only be one promotion and one relegation place from higher divisions unless someone leaves the league for any reason, in which case divisions will be adjusted accordingly.

Players in the league may play additional matches against any opponents however these will not count towards league positions or points. All matches in divisions will be automatically UKBGF rated. Any additional matches can be rated by mutual agreement before play commences.

Any player in the divisions who plays less than 50% of league matches in a season may be suspended for at least one season and be relegated or required to join from the bottom once suspension lifted by committee.

All players will need to provide the following details: Name, Address, Phone number, Email address (and if possible, Facebook messenger ID and online play ID. Any relevant details will be given to each divisions respective players at the start of season.

Default contact should be by group chat group on messenger where possible.

Additional information

The founding league committee will be:

Tim Parfitt Membership Administrator

Daniel SilveLeague Statistics Administrator

Rich McQuillan Ratings Administrator

All players who sign up for first phase may stand for committee status, players may at any time ask that one member of the committee stand for re-election for the start of the following season against another selected candidate / member willing to take on the roll. In the event of a tie the current member will retain his/her position. As founding members the original committee will still have involvement in the league. Committee are volunteers, there will be no allowance for income / expenses as committee member.

The committee will be allowed to participate in the league, they will rule on any incidents not involving them. There will be a subordinate nominated at the start of each season who will stand in if a ruling is required which involves a committee member. All decisions will be made in the interest of sportsmanship and gamesmanship.

The league committee can change the rules and format of the league competition with at least 1 months notice. This would only ever been done to evolve the competition to everyone’s benefit and no-one will purposely be disadvantaged by any changes.

Players who drop out of the league for any reason will be able to re-enter at the start of another season however they will enter at the bottom and will be limited to winning second place prize money in any division below 1 – 4, this is to ensure that weaker players are given a chance to win whilst that player progresses with promotion back up the league structure.

This is to be a fun league – prize fund should be seen as secondary. Any player losing sight of this will not be invited back at the discretion of the ruling committee.

The type of clock used must be a dedicated and approved device with delay feature, this may be a smart-phone or tablet device.

Dice used must be 4 precision dice where possible, if clock used only 2 dice are required.

In the event of a player specific disability an alternative dice rolling system will be approved by committee with the automatic acceptance of opponent.

Players may agree prior to playing any league division match to “Double-up” the result of an 11 point match in another competition as a league result. This can be from another local league, UKBGF or BIBA tournament or even an international event as long as face-to-face and by Prior Mutual agreement.

It is not permissible to play a single match and count it as two results.

Only fully completed matches or where clock time ran out count towards final points totals.